Competitive Advantage: Resource Efficiency · PDF fileCONCRETE PRACTICAL EXAMPLES 16 ......

Competitive Advantage: Resource EfficiencyDefinitions, Basics, Facts and Examples

Facts on Resource Efficiency

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TABLE OF CONTENTS |

FOREWORD 5

INTRODUCTION 6

Natural resources 6 Resource efficiency 6

Resource consumption and climate protection 8

Resource consumption in the product life cycle 8

STRATEGIC AND ECONOMIC ADVANTAGES 10

Political support for resource efficiency 10 The relevance of resource efficiency for companies 12

POTENTIALS FOR RESOURCE EFFICIENCY 14

CONCRETE PRACTICAL EXAMPLES 16

Improvement of internal processes 18

Changes in production 22

Technology change 28

Holistic process 32

KEY PLAYERS AT FEDERAL AND STATE LEVEL 36

FOOTNOTES AND SOURCES 38

4

The guiding principles of the German Resource Efficiency Programme

1Combining ecological necessities with economic opportunities, innovation support and social respon-sibility

2Considering global re-sponsibility as a key focus of our national resource policy

3Gradually making eco-nomic and production practices in Germany less depent of primary raw materials, developing and expanding closed cycle management

4Ensuring long-term sustainable use of resources by guiding society towards qual-ity growth

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FACTS ON RESOURCE EFFICIENCY | FOREWORD

The industrial landscape of Germany is mainly characterized by medium-sized businesses, many companies produce for global consum-ers. Those who produce efficiently lower their costs and thus safeguard jobs in their busi-nesses. The leading position of the German industry both in technology and innovation is the basis for its success on the world market. There are numerous excellent examples of in-novative companies that were able to further boost their competitive position in the market

through intelligent resource management. Lower resource input in production is of key importance for the protection of our environ-ment. It lowers CO2 emissions and reduces sewage and waste. The guiding principle of decoupling the use of finite natural resources from economic growth and consumption pro-duces many winners: competitive companies, a motivated workforce, Germany as an attrac-tive business location and the conservation of our planet’s natural resources.

Resource EfficiencyClimate Protection and Competitive Advantage

Dr. Martin VogtManaging Director VDI ZRE GmbH

“Achieving more with less” is the basic principle of efficiency

© Hoffotografen GmbH

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Resource efficiency increases with increas-ing benefit at constant resource consumption

or with decreasing resource input at constant benefit.

FACTS ON RESOURCE EFFICIENCY | INTRODUCTION

IntroductionThe meaning of resource efficiency

NATURAL RESOURCESResources are things occurring in nature that humans use to survive and to create wealth. Natural resources include biotic and abiotic raw materials, environmen-tal media like water, soil and clean air as well as physical space available. Biotic raw materials are defined as biological products like wood, plants, animals etc., while abiotic raw materials comprise ores, minerals, energy feedstock such as oil and gas etc. Resources also include the ability to absorb emissions and waste and thus to fulfil the function of an environmental sink. In addition, so-called flow energy, e.g. geothermal energy, wind, tidal and

solar energy may be included. Biological diversity as a resource refers to the diver-sity within species, between species and of biosystems. In the current discussion and assessment of the natural resources consumption we will focus on abiotic raw materials and environmental media, for which reliable cost items are quantifiable.

RESOURCE EFFICIENCY Resource efficiency (RE) describes the ratio of a certain benefit to the resource consumption required for it. The utility is a concrete product (good, service or their combination). The benefit consists in the consumption of natural resources.

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THE DEFINITION OF RESOURCE EFFICIENCY

RESOURCE EFFICIENCY

EFFORT

BENEFIT

ProductFunctionFunctional unit

Natural resourcesRaw materialsEnergy AirWaterSpace and soilEcosystem services

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RESOURCE CONSUMPTION AND CLIMATE PROTECTIONResearch results show the correlation be-tween resource consumption and the emis-sion of greenhouse gases, such as CO2. In this context, the Federal Ministry of Educa-tion and Research was able to demonstrate this correlation in 22 projects of the funding measure r², Innovative Technologies for Re-source Efficiency. A transfer of these results would lead to material savings of about 80 million tons each year and to an increase in raw material productivity of five to six per-centage points. Furthermore, energy con-sumption could be reduced by about 75 ter-awatt hours and greenhouse gases by about 60 million tons of CO2 equivalents per year.1

There are many other examples showing the correlation between resource efficiency and

climate protection.

RESOURCE CONSUMPTION IN THE PRODUCT LIFE CYCLEThe product life cycle can be roughly subdi-vided into four phases, with the utilization phase often being the most important one. Consumption of resources occurs nearly across the entire product life cycle from raw material production to product manufactur-ing, use and recycling/disposal.2 The improve-ment of the resource efficiency of one process or within a phase of life can lead to deteriora-tions in other phases of life or processes of the whole product lifecycle.Therefore, resource efficiency should be aimed at throughout the entire product life cycle. In smartphones and other highly func-tional IT-products for example, numerous

technology metals are processed whose man-ufacturing has a strong impact on the climate. Along with the short useful life of the devices of mostly less than three years, this negative balance can only be compensated by pro-cessing those metals via closed take-back systems and a technologically sophisticated recycling process and by returning them to the manufacturing process. With a proper re-cycling system, credits at the expense of the climate-wrecking effects of materials produc-tion are practically obtained. In comparison to the 1980s, modern washing machines as con-sumer durables consume less than half of the water and thus less detergent.3 This example shows that technical progress can provide an increase in resource effi-ciency without losses. In the end, long-lived assets and consumer durables with a lasting

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use phase of 10 years and more are the most resource-efficient products, unless essential technical progresses are achieved during

their useful life, which technically negate the advantages of long utilization.

Raw material production

Manufacturing PRODUCT

USE

Recycling/Disposal

PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE

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FACTS ON RESOURCE EFFICIENCY | STRATEGIC AND ECONOMIC ADVANTAGES

Political support for resource efficiencyThe Federal Government’s strategy

“ACHIEVING MORE WITH LESS”In the National Sustainability Strategy 2002, the Federal Government set itself the goal to double the raw material pro-ductivity, measured in Euro value added per ton of abiotic raw material input, by 2020 compared to 1994. This goal was rein-forced in the German Resource Efficiency Programme (ProgRess) adopted by the

Federal cabinet in February 2012. The Federal Government aims at decoupling economic growth as far as possible from resource use, reducing the burden on the environment and at strengthening the sustainability, the competitiveness of the German economy thus promoting stable employment and social cohesion.ProgRess aims at the

sustainable recovery and use of natural

resources and at the reduction of the related

ecological burden on the environment involved.

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a

1994 1995

60

80

1996

88,2

126,6

143,6

1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2010 2011 202020092008

100

120

140

160

Raw material productivity

Gross domestic product(adjusted for price)

Raw material recovery and imports

DEVELOPMENT OF RAW MATERIAL PRODUCTIVITY IN GERMANY SINCE 1994

12


The large proportion of material costs in the manufacturing industry is reflected by its in-ternal cost structure. The expenses for mate-rials increased from 36 percent in 1993 to 45 percent in the year 2013, while in the same period, labour costs decreased from 27 to 18 percent. The proportion of energy cost re-mained almost constant at 2 percent. The efficient use of materials significantly im-proves the competitive situation of a manu-facturing company. The German Agency for Material Efficiency (demea) expects the op-erational saving potential for material costs to be at 20 percent.4 In 2011, the proportion of material costs in the gross production value of the manufacturing sector amounted to 831.61 billion Euros. 20

percent of it means about 166 billion Euros. Thus, conservatively estimated, the saving potential in the manufacturing sector could amount to at least 100 billion Euros. In addition, the results deriving from 736 pro-jects carried out by demea in small and me-dium-sized manufacturing enterprises show that the average annual saving potential per enterprise amounted to well 200,000 Euros. According to demea, this corresponds to an average saving potential of slightly below 2 percent of the turnover of the companies under consideration. Many efficiency poten-tials can be realized with limited investment funds.5

The relevance of resource efficiency for companies Savings in resources boost sales

COST STRUCTURE IN THE MANU-FACTURING INDUSTRY 2014

Energy

Contract work

Taxes other

than on income

43 %16 %

1 %

3 %

18 %

12 %2 %2 %

3 %

Material

Labour

Balance(profit etc.)

Others (Depreciation, lease etc.)

Interests

Trade goods

13


19930

5

1999 2002 2005 2008 2011

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

Material costs in percent

Energy costs in percent

Labour costs in percent

SHARE OF COSTS IN THE MANUFACTURING SECTOR IN TIME SERIES

1996

14

According to a survey commissioned by the VDI Center for Resource Efficiency in 2015, only 27 percent of the small and medium-sized enterprises think that the saving po-tentials in their own sector are already fully utilized. The smallest proportions are found in the areas of Chemistry (21 percent), Elec-trical Engineering (21 percent) and Plastics

(22 percent). The highest proportions are recorded in Metall Processing (36 percent), Metal Production (32 percent) and Mechani-cal Engineering (27 Percent).Every second company knows examples of resource efficiency projects that led to com-petitive advantages - even through innova-tions.6

Potentials for resource efficiencyEconomic benefit

FACTS ON RESOURCE EFFICIENCY | POTENTIALS FOR RESOURCE EFFICIENCY

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FACTS ON RESOURCE EFFICIENCY | POTENTIALS FOR RESOURCE EFFICIENCY

73 %

YES27 %

NO

56 %44 %

I know companies in our sector which have gained competitive advantages through measures to increase resource efficiency.

In our sector, all the resource efficiency potentials are already utilized.

NO YES

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FACTS ON RESOURCE EFFICIENCY | PRACTICAL EXAMPLES

Resource efficiency is an attractive and appro-priate tool to sustainably strengthen the eco-nomic situation of a company. Comprehen-sive experiences gained in successful projects on material and energy efficiency show mul-tiple possibilities to improve the economic situation through efficient use of material and energy. Basically four successful measures can be identified among the multitude of success-fully implemented projects in industry and trade.

IMPROVEMENT OF INTERNAL PROCESSESEfficiency can be increased in various sub-processes, such as logistics, production plan-ning, purchasing, and thereby provides exact knowledge of Total Costs of Ownership (TCO). Mostly, this requires low investments, and with less than 2 months, the amortization pe-riod is very short.

RESOURCE EFFICIENCY THROUGH CHANGES IN PRODUCTIONThe potential analysis of the German Agency for Material Efficiency has shown that im-provements in the production process can result in considerable advantages in the eco-nomic success of a company. A medium-sized foundry company, for example, changed its production process in a way that prod-uct quality could be enhanced significantly, typical rework could be minimized and en-ergy costs could be reduced by 65 percent. This enormous increase in efficiency also convinced the Federal Environment Agency which supported this innovation with funds from the Environmental Innovation Pro-gramme (UIP). In other cases, entrepreneurs reduced off-specification batches to almost zero by using software for continuous moni-toring of production flows.

TECHNOLOGY CHANGE PROVIDES CONSID-ERABLE IMPROVEMENTSSuccessful companies of the manufactur-ing sector also realize that previous pro-duction processes do no longer provide in-creases in efficiency. This means the whole production process must be re-designed using new manufacturing technologies. This change requires entrepreneurial cour-age and a perfectly adjusted internal pro-cess that involves all staff. The examples provided below illustrate the enormous ef-ficiency potential, which, in one case, may amount to the reduction in the consump-tion of upscale material of 80 percent. Giv-en the extensive investments, the amorti-zation periods are significantly longer; on the other hand, however they consider-ably strengthen the economic position of the company. For this purpose, even the offerings of the Environmental Innovation

Concrete practical examples Economic benefit of resource efficiency

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Resource efficiency in the company ranges from small projects to the reorganization of the whole production process.

FACTS ON RESOURCE EFFICIENCY | PRACTICAL EXAMPLES

Programme (see UIP) and the German Fed-eral Foundation for the Environment (DBU) can be used.

RESOURCE EFFICIENCY AS A HOLISTIC PROCESSIn this approach, resource efficiency is synonymous for a completely new plant concept, comprising new highly-efficient and resource-saving manufacturing pro-cesses, including modern logistics. In addi-tion, it encompasses energy supply based on renewables or even compact building structures with compact cladding and high thermal insulation. The industrial process-es are designed in a way that all consuma-bles and utilities are returned to produc-tion where they are reprocessed. The aim is the development of successful produc-tion models that operate without waste and emissions or in part, produce even

more energy than needed in production. This efficient, state-of-the-art production process with the respective infrastructure is sustainably ensured by the active con-tinuous quality process supported by all employees.

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FACTS ON RESOURCE EFFICIENCY | PRACTICAL EXAMPLES | IMPROVEMENT OF INTERNAL PROCESSES

Blechwarenfabrik Limburg GmbHImprovement of internal processes

The Blechwarenfabrik Limburg GmbH has an annual output of about 70 million tin-plate packaging products.

STARTING SITUATION The company consistently implements the guiding principle of resource efficiency in all fields of work. Apart from the economi-cal consumption of materials and energy, this also comprises efficient business pro-cesses. Even small changes may lead to considerable results.

APPLIED RESOURCE EFFICIENCYA small and obvious project, initiated by trainees, was convincing: the company saves money by washing work gloves in-stead of throwing them away. In a pilot pro-

ject, trainees found out that work gloves can be washed and reused up to six times before they lose their safety function. With this, the company saves about 80 percent of its glove demand. At the Blechwaren-fabrik Limburg however, resource efficien-cy is also a joint task. In order to make the projects public to all employees, the com-pany initiated the “Year of Sustainability”. Exhibition walls with constantly chang-ing contents were positioned at a central point in the production hall in order for employees to keep themselves informed about current projects.

ABOUT THE COMPANY

In recent years, the Blechwarenfabrik Limburg has turned into a leading company of the packaging industry and has received important awards for its sustainable resource-saving and future-oriented company policy. Since 1997, the quality management system of the Blechwarenfabrik Limburg has been certified according to ISO 9001 and since 2010, its environmental management according to ISO 14001. Since 2012, they have been certified according to ISO 50001 (energy management), according to OHSAS 18001 (health and safety-at-work management) and according to DIN EN 16001 (energy management certification).

www.blechwaren-limburg.de

1919

ECONOMIES80 percent of work gloves


Work gloves can be washed up to six times without any loss in quality

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Moll Marzipan GmbHImprovement of internal processes

In the long-established Moll Marzipan GmbH over 7,000 tons of almonds and apricot kernels are processed to marzipan and other delicacies each year. With this, the company belongs to the top five of the leading producers in Europe.

STARTING SITUATIONIn 2010, the Moll Marzipan GmbH started a comprehensive investment programme, which primarily aimed at the quality im-provement of the products and at the im-provement of the company’s efficiency. The first two key investments were a new blanching machine and a new fryer for the candy department.

APPLIED RESOURCE EFFICIENCYProduction could be increased by more than 30 percent per hour, in particular through improved production batch man-

agement and corresponding work flows. Energy consumption increased dispropor-tionally by only 19 percent. Cleaning pro-cesses were optimized as well and provide savings of about 15 percent of the cleaning costs. Significant success was achieved through organizational restructurings, above all in the production of prepara-tions, as this process is not automated as is the production of marzipan paste. Here, savings in the energy sector can be quan-tified at about 7.8 percent per kilogram of production, which is mainly attribut-able to better plant utilization. In addition, there is the effect of employees thinking about possible improvements. Since they are involved in the process optimizations their jobs become more interesting and more demanding. Thus the improvement of efficiency provides the company with savings and motivates employees.

ABOUT THE COMPANY

Established in 1860, the Berlin-based company employs a staff of 85 who produce a total annual output of approx. 12 million kilograms. The Moll Marzipan GmbH holds the relevant food certifica-tions, such as IFS, BRC, DIN ISO 22000etc. all with the addition of “highest standard“.

www.mollmarzipan.de

2121

ECONOMIES10 percent of energy15 percent of cleaning costs


Managing Director Dr. Armin Seitz in front of the new blanching machine of the Moll Marzipan GmbH

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FACTS ON RESOURCE EFFICIENCY | PRACTICAL EXAMPLES | IMPROVEMENT IN PRODUCTION

Edelstahlwerke Schmees GmbH Resource efficiency through changes in production

The family company Edelstahlwerke Schmees produces castings of stainless steel for companies around the globe.

STARTING SITUATIONThe production of castings is an extraor-dinarily energy-intensive and thus CO2-intensive process. Following the smelting of the metal raw material in the melting furnaces, it is in particular the pre-heating of the ladles that requires a lot of energy. At the same time, this sector provides high energy savings potentials, since obsolete techniques are often applied and gas burn-ers with open flame are used for heating. This results in high energy losses and thus in high operating costs.

APPLIED RESOURCE EFFICIENCYIn the ladle pre-heating station, the com-pany uses new burner technology called

porous burner, developed by the company Promeos. In these natural gas-air-volume burners, the natural gas flamelessly com-busts in a sponge-like ceramic matrix and warms it up. The developing heat is then transferred to so-called steel bod-ies, whose form is adapted to the internal contour of the ladles. Afterwards, heat transfer from the glowing steel shot to the refractory of the ladles occurs by means of convection and radiation, which renders the ladles particularly efficient and ho-mogeneous and significantly accelerates the heating-up process. Thanks to the new ladle heating station, 61,400 cubic meters per year and thus more than 50 percent of natural gas are saved in the works of the Edelstahlwerke Schmees compared to the old system with natural gas flame burners. This saving corresponds to the avoidance of 114 tons of CO2 per year.

ABOUT THE COMPANY

156 of the 400 employees work in Langenfeld, 244 in Pirma. The energy management certification according to ISO 50001 has already occurred. The company received funds in the amount of 54,273 Euros from the environmental innovation programme of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety for the realization of the resource-saving ladle heating station.

www.edelstahlwerke-schmees.de

2323

ECONOMIES50 percent of natural gas


Deslagging of a stainless steel melt at a temperature of 1,600 degrees celsius

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MSR Technologies GmbHResource efficiency through changes in production

The MSR Technologies GmbH is specialized in the mechanical machining and assem-bly of metal precision parts. The company manufactures, inter alia, turbo charger components for gasoline and Diesel en-gines, hydraulic control blocks, airbag parts and magnetic valves.

STARTING SITUATIONWith exact time-related registration of all production flows and their continu-ous evaluation, companies can save large amounts of material and energy and can reduce their costs considerably.

APPLIED RESOURCE EFFICIENCYThe company carried out comprehen-sive data monitoring and since then, all

data of all machines and plants at MSR Technologies converge in one control station. The detailed overview of the manufacturing process provides a clear picture of material, machine and energy utilization and possible parameters for cost savings. Machine malfunctions, which are recorded almost in real-time and reported to the production manage-ment via WLAN, can be remedied more quickly. The rejection rates of the parts to be produced will decrease. Produc-tion planning profits from it: it makes production faster, more precise and more efficient. And this makes compa-nies save material, energy and manufac-turing costs and has a positive effect on the business operating times.

ABOUT THE COMPANY

The automotive supplier has 265 employees.

www.msr-tec.com

2525

ECONOMIES25 percent increase in business operating times


Fast, precise and efficient with data monitoring

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Martin Pfaffmann Wein-GeleeResource efficiency through changes in production

Based on an old traditional recipe, the company Martin Pfaffmann Wein-Gelee produces approx. 800,000 jars of wine jelly from 100,000 litres of wine.

STARTING SITUATIONThe production of wine jelly is a very heat and water-intensive process: the company uses a lot of gas to heat the source mate-rial. For hygienic reasons, the jars must be cooled down quickly after filling-in the wine jelly. Previously, this was carried out in a water bath.

APPLIED RESOURCE EFFICIENCYA good portion of the energy and water

consumption could be reduced by means of an optimized heating and cooling sys-tem. A heat exchanger helped optimize the wine heating process: the heat exchanger is used to pre-heat the wine before it will be processed in the cooking pots. This low-loss pre-heating reduces gas consumption by 33 percent. The one-shot investment will have paid off in two years. The cooling of the finished jelly occurs through a new spray cooling system instead of a water bath: the jars are only sprayed while the evaporative heat loss provides the desired temperature. This saves 200,000 litres per year, which corresponds to water savings of 90 percent.

ABOUT THE COMPANY

The family business in Landau- Wollmesheim has 15 employees. In 2008, the company took part in the Rhineland-Palatinate consulting project Eff-Check and with the help of a consultant it was able to reduce its gas consumption by about 50 percent and water consump-tion by even 90 percent.

www.weingelee.de

2727

ECONOMIES33 percent of gas90 percent of water


Gas savings through heat exchanger

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FACTS ON RESOURCE EFFICIENCY | PRACTICAL EXAMPLES | TECHNOLOGY CHANGE

TITAL GmbHTechnology change with considerable improvement in resource efficiency

Since 1974, the TITAL GmbH has been a leading manufacturer of sophisticated investment castings of titanium and aluminium alloys.

STARTING SITUATIONThe company is development and produc-tion partner for global leaders in the field of aerospace, electronics and optics, in-dustrial and medical systems. Until 2008, the TITAL GmbH manufactured titanium investment castings up to a size of about 600 millimetres with the existing casting furnace.

APPLIED RESOURCE EFFICIENCYCasting instead of milling: Due to the investment in an innovative vacuum arc furnace from the ALD Vacuum Technolo-gies GmbH, it is now possible to manu-facture complex titanium castings with

dimensions of up to 1.5 meters and com-ponents weighing up to 300 kilograms. Thus, compared to metal cutting technol-ogy, up to 75 percent of energy and mate-rial are saved in the field of titanium com-ponents while about 15,000 tons of CO2 are avoided per year. At the same time, the new technology helped improve casting and product quality. For many years, the TITAL GmbH has also been leading in the resource-efficient manu-facturing of aluminium components with complex designs. Since the mid-1990s, the company has been manufacturing aluminium cast parts of up to 1.5 meters and 90 kilograms with a casting factor of 1.0 applying the patented HERO-Premi-um-Casting® process, which resulted in considerable savings in weight and this, in turn, in material.

ABOUT THE COMPANY

TITAL was established in 1974. In 2006, the company was taken over by the man-agement. Today, TITAL employs a staff of 550 and generates a revenue of approx. 64 million Euros. The project was funded with a subsidy of 854,760 Euros from the environmental innovation programme of the Federal Ministry for the Environ-ment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety.

www.tital.de

2929

ECONOMIES75 percent of energy75 percent of material


Titanium investment cast components, approx. 800 x 900 x 200 millimetres,wall thickness partially smaller than 2 millimetres

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Schomäcker Federwerk GmbHTechnology change with considerable improvement in resource efficiency

At its headquarters in Melle, the Schomäcker Federwerk GmbH produces more than 3,000 types of suspensions on an area of 40,500 square meters. Each year, high-qual-ity steel with a capacity of 20,000 tons is processed into quality suspensions which are exported into 50 countries worldwide.

STARTING SITUATIONAim of the project was the development of an energy saving, innovative heating and transformation process for the manufac-turing of parabolic beam links for truck semi-trailers and trailers. To this end, the process sequence should be designed in a way that the heating and transformation processes, which were separated so far, could be integrated to a shortened pro-cess chain. The aim was the development

of a large-scale production of parabolic beam links with significantly increased energy and material efficiency as well as improved product quality.

APPLIED RESOURCE EFFICIENCYThe company developed an innovative, resource-efficient process for the manu-facture of suspensions for parabolic beam links by shortening the process chain. In this project, the process of heating and transforming the parabolic beam links was redesigned in order to significantly reduce the mentioned disadvantages in produc-tion. For this purpose, the three separated heating steps were streamlined to one and all subsequent hot forming processes were brought together in a shortened process chain.

ABOUT THE COMPANY

The newly developed resource-efficient production process was funded by the Federal Foundation for the Environment (DBU).

www.schomaecker.de

3131

ECONOMIES40 percent of energy15 percent of material


Patented and energy-efficient production process for the manufacture of commercial vehicle suspensions (EnRed)

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FACTS ON RESOURCE EFFICIENCY | PRACTICAL EXAMPLES | HOLISTIC PROCESS

J. Schmalz GmbHResource efficiency as a holistic process

The J. Schmalz GmbH belongs to the leading suppliers of vacuum technology worldwide.

STARTING SITUATIONThe company develops, produces and sells individual vacuum components and ready to connect vacuum gripping systems for auto-mation as well as vacuum handling systems for manual lifting tasks and vacuum clamp-ing systems for the fixing of work pieces.

APPLIED RESOURCE EFFICIENCYWith the new production hall built in 2009, the company J. Schmalz GmbH redesigned its production from the scratch. The individ-ual production steps were arranged accord-ing to the logic value-added process for the manufacturing of the products – unneces-sary travel times and intermediate storage facilities could be saved. In the assembly area, one-piece flow was introduced with

the aim of reducing scrap components to a minimum. Smart supply logistics supple-ments the lean production. The so-called Kanban system ensures that at the work place, there is exactly the amount of mate-rial that is actually needed. According to the milk-run principle, a special train provides the required supply and, at the same time, picks up finished goods and takes them to the shipping department or to the storage facility. With this measure, Schmalz could improve its material efficiency and also its product quality, cycle times could be short-ened and manufacturing costs lowered. Moreover, Schmalz is a positive-energy company. With the utilization of solar, wind and water energy for power generation and the use of a wood-chip heating system, the family company is able to generate more energy from renewable sources than it needs for itself.

ABOUT THE COMPANY

Approx. 750 employees work for the J. Schmalz GmbH at the headquarters in Glatten (Black Forest) and in 15 subsidiaries abroad.

www.schmalz.com

3333

Positive-energy companyCO2- free production


Production hall of the J. Schmalz GmbH with two milk-run trains

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Solvis GmbH & Co. KGResource efficiency as a holistic process

Founded in 1988, the specialist for solar heat-ing systems is one of Europe’s technological leaders today. The company is particularly proud of the development of the multi-award winning solar heating system SolvisMax.

STARTING SITUATIONAs a company with products for the climate-friendly use of solar energy, it was self-evi-dent for Solvis to set new standards in terms of climate protection with its own business activities, too. The result: a zero-emission factory, which, regarding its size and con-sistent energy concept, was the first of its kind in Europe.

APPLIED RESOURCE EFFICIENCYThe complex consisting of offices and pro-duction areas and storage facilities with approx. 14,000 square meters uses 75 per-

cent less energy and water than conven-tional industrial plants and is completely supplied by renewable energies from in-house plants. About a quarter of all energy is supplied by the sun, the rest comes from a biogas combined heat and power unit (BHKW). The compact building is surround-ed by a tight envelope with high thermal insulation: floor thickness 12 centimetres, outwall thickness 24 centimetres and ceil-ing thickness 36 centimetres. The continu-ous rows of windows in the production ar-eas, the office windows as well as the light domes in the roof of the entire building are triple-glazed and reduce the power con-sumption due to the high use of daylight. A photovoltaic area of 2,000 square meters with 220 kilowatt peak supplies energy from the sun. The major part of the modules is erected on the company’s premises.

ABOUT THE COMPANY

Solvis was awarded, inter alia, the Euro-pean Solar Prize 2002, the Energy Globe 2003 (world award for sustainability) and the B.A.U.M. environmental award 2007 for its factory building and its commit-ment to climate protection.

www.solvis.de

3535


Zero-emission factory Solvis GmbH & Co KG

Positive-energy companyCO2- free production

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Here is where companies get support.

Key players at Federal and State levelResource efficiency on the spot

FACTS ON RESOURCE EFFICIENCY | KEY PLAYERS AT FEDERAL AND STATE LEVEL

There are numerous players in Germany making efforts to increase resource effi-ciency. Below we provide you with some contacts on federal and state level.

VDI CENTRE FOR RESOURCE EFFICIENCYwww.resource-germany.com

BMUB – FEDERAL MINISTRY FOR THE ENVIRONMENT, NATURE CONSERVATION, BUILDING AND NUCLEAR SAFETYwww.bmub.bund.de/en/topics/economy-products-resources/resource-efficiency

DBU – FEDERAL FOUNDATION FOR THE ENVIRONMENTwww.dbu.de

DEMEA – GERMAN AGENCY FOR MATERIAL EFFICIENCYCOMMISSIONED BY THE BMWIwww.demea.de

FONA - BMBF PLATFORM FOR RESEARCH ON SUSTAINABILITYwww.fona.de/en/index.php

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KFW ENVIRONMENT PROGRAMMEwww.kfw.de/inlandsfoerderung/Unternehmen/Energie-Umwelt/Finanzierungsangebote/Umweltpro-gramm-(240-241)

RKW www.rkw.de

FEDERAL ENVIRONMENT AGENCYwww.umweltbundesamt.de/en

ENVIRONMENTAL INNOVATION PROGRAMMEwww.umweltinnovationsprogramm.de

HELMHOLTZ-INSTITUT FREIBERG FÜR RESSOURCENTECHNOLOGIEhttp://www.hzdr.de/db/Cms?pNid=2423

RESSOURCENEFFIZIENZ-ZENTRUM BAYERNwww.lfu.bayern.de/abfall/ressourceneffizienz

EFFIZIENZ-AGENTUR NRWwww.efanrw.de

EFFIZIENZNETZ RHEINLAND-PFALZwww.effnet.rlp.de

FREIE UND HANSESTADT HAMBURGBEHÖRDE FÜR STADTENTWICKLUNG UND UMWELTwww.hamburg.de/ressourcenschutz

HESSEN TRADE & INVEST www.hessen-trade-and-invest.com

KLIMASCHUTZ- UND ENERGIEAGENTUR NIEDERSACHSENwww.klimaschutz-niedersachsen.de

THÜRINGER ENERGIE-UND GREENTECH-AGENTURwww.thega.de

UMWELTTECHNIK BW www.umwelttechnik-bw.de

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT AND TECHNOL-OGY TRANSFER CORPORATION OF SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEINwww.wtsh.de

FACTS ON RESOURCE EFFICIENCY | KEY PLAYERS AT FEDERAL AND STATE LEVEL

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9th BMBF-Forum for Sustainability, 10/2012, Berlinwww.fona.de/mediathek/forum/2012/beitrag/b1_ostertag_katrin_01_presentation_forum_2012.pdfSource for Climate Protection.

VDI 4800 Part 1 Resource efficiency - Methododical principles and strategies, 02/2016.

Ebersperger, R.: Methodik zur Ermittlung derenergieoptimierten Nutzungsdauer von Produkten.Munich, Technical University, Dissertation,1995.

German Agency for Material Efficiency (demea)www.materialeffizienz-selbstcheck.de/demea-selbstcheck, Fraunhofer-Institute for Systems and Innovation Research ISI, “Material Efficiency in Production”.

German Agency for Material Efficiency (demea)Industry-specific key performance indicators as of 12/2012.

www.vdi-zre.de/aktuelles/veroeffentlichungen

Page 19: VDI ZREPage 21: VDI ZREPage 23: Thomas Deutschmann, VDI ZREPage 25: MSRPage 27: VDI ZREPage 29: Tital GmbHPage 31: Schomäcker GmbHPage 33: J. Schmalz GmbHPage 35: Solvis GmbH & Co. KG

Page 11: Federal Statistical Office, 2012:Sustainable development in Germany.Indicator Report 2012Page 12: Federal Statistical Office 2016Page 13: Statistical yearbooks of the years 1995to 2011, thereafter cost structure statisticsPage 15: VDI ZRE 2015: Implementation of resource efficiency measurements in SME and their drivers

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FACTS ON RESOURCE EFFICIENCY | NOTES

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October 2016 , 3rd edition

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